Hand protecting handle



March 26., 1963 OTON FRANGES 3,083,366

NOW BY CHANGE OF NAME HOTON MITROVACKI FRANGES HAND PROTECTING HANDLE lled Oct 16 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mardl 1963 OTON FRANGES 3,083,366

ow BY CHAN OF NAME TON MITROVA l FRANGES HAND PROTEC TING HANDLE Filed 001;. 16, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

v MHR, r- 3 may United States Patent Office i 3,083,366 HAND PROTECTING HANDLE Oton Franges, now by .change of name, Hoton Mitrovacki Franges, 1464 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. Filed Oct. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 846,871 7 Claims. (Cl. 16-114) The present invention relates to handles attachable or attached to cord or wire loop handles for carrying shopping bags or other packages.

This is a continuation-in-part application of my copending application Serial No. 768,246, filed October 20, 1958, and entitled Hand Protecting Handle, now abandoned. I

-It is the principal object of this invention to provide a grip which, when attached to and surrounding the cord or wire loop handles, will readily adapt its form to the shape of the hand and will simultaneously prevent the wire or cord loops from cutting, chafing or otherwise injuring the hands of the person carrying the package to which the loop handles are attached.

It is a more specific object of the invention to pro vide a protective handle ofthe indicated type, which is automatically flexed to conform to the hand under the pull of the package weight so that all the fingers of the hand will equally and simultaneously contact-the protective handle and the entire hand will support the package.

The above and other objects of the invention arevaccomplished by providing an elongated hand protecting handle body adapted to hold two package loop handles with a lower portion which forms a seat for at least one of the loop handles and twoside walls extending upwardly from the lower portion. The side walls have a plurality of transverse slots extending downwardly from the upper edges of the side walls to the lower handle body portion to make the handle body flexible and readily conformable to the shape of the hand at the places of the lower portion underlying theslots.

The lower body portion may or may not be integral with the side walls but at least the lower'portion is of a pliable material which has a soft feel.

The hand protecting handle may either be permanently attached to one loop of a conventional pair of loop handles, the other loop being seated on the lower 'body portion of the protecting handle after the shopping bag or like package is filled and ready for carrying, or both loop handles maybe placed on the protecting handle seat, the protecting handle then being a separate unit which may be used over and over again.

'To prevent tearing or breakage of'the handle body at the transverse slots, the inner ends thereof are rounded.

In accordance with one preferred feature of the invention, retaining lugs may be provided at the ends of the side walls to assure firm retention of the loop handle or handles on the lower body portion seat.

The above objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be more fully understood with reference to the following detailed description of certain now preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the hand protecting handle, partly in vertical longitudinal section, and illustrates the same permanently attached to one loop handle of a shopping bag;

FIG. 1A shows a modification of the slot formation;

FIG. 2 is a section along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a hand protecting handle according to FIG. 1 showing loop handle retaining lugs;

FIG. 4 is an end view of FIG. 3, also showing two 3,083,366 Patented Mar. 26, 1963 bag' seated on the lower porloop handles of a shopping tion of the handle body;

FIG. 5 is a similar end view of the embodiment of the hand protectinghandle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a modification of the retention lugs;

FIG. 7 shows the hand protecting handle in use in connection with a shopping bag having two loop handles;

FIG. 8 shows the hand protecting handle in use in connection with a package crosswise tied with cord.

FIG. 9 shows one part of an injection mold for pro-s ducing the handle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a vertical section of the injection mold, taken along line X-X of FIG. 9.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts, FIG. 1 shows the hand protecting handle generally indicated by 10. As shown in the drawing, the handle is a preferably unitary, elongated body of any pliable and relatively soft material, such as wood pulp, pliable plastic, foamed. plastic material, such as foam rubber or foamed polyurethanes, and the like. Preferred materials include injection moldable substances, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, nylon, cellulosics, vinyls, acrylics, and like synthetic resins. Any material which has a soft feel to the hand may be used for this purpose.

While an injection molded, unitary structure will be most economical, it is also possible and fully within the scope of the present invention to make the side walls of the hand protecting handle of a hard and rigid material, leaving only the lower portion soft to the feel of the fingers gripping it.

The side walls 11 of the handle have a plurality of transverse slots 13 having rounded ends 13a to prevent tearing or breaking of the handle along the lines of the slots. In one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1A, slots 13 may end in circular portions 13b which provide extra protection against tearing. Said slot ends may also be 'reenforced against tearing by other means, for instance, by stitching or providing them with reenforcing clamps and the like. A central slot 13' is preferably wider than the other slots in the side walls of the handle. This wider central slot permits placing one of the cords or wires of the loop handles thereinto and the handle thus serves for carrying packages that have been cross wise tied with cord, wire or the like (see FIG. 8). The transverse slots in the handle side walls impart a ready flexibility to the handle at the places of the lower handle portion underlying the slots so that the'handle always is in full contact with all the fingers of the hand and readily conforms thereto. The slots extend downwardly to the lower portion of the handle.

The lower portion 12 of the handle is soft and pliable I and its underface 14 is transversely rounded, as shown in FIG. 2, so that this portion readily conforms to the shape of the hand when the handle is gripped. All sharp edges and corners should be avoided to make the handle smooth and well-rounded. The end parts 27 of said lower portion 12 are preferably somewhat thicker than the remainder of the handle and are rounded and extend outwardly so that they protect the hand gripping the handle from chafing by the cord, wire, or the like.

Extending longitudinally along the handle body between its side walls is a groove 15 which provides a seat for receiving at least one loop handle of a shopping bag or other package. Such loop handles for carrying packages are conventionally made of cord, wire, or like material and, where gripped directly, they cut and chafe the hand. In contrast thereto, the handle according to the present invention is constructed in such a manner that 'no cutting or chafing of the hand by the edges of the handle can take place.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 5, one loop handle 16 of a shopping bag 20 is permanently connected to the hand protecting handle by being embedded in the lower portion 12 thereof. After the bag is filled, the other loop handle 17 is placed in groove 15 (seeFIG. and the bag is ready to be carried.

The modification illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 shows a hand protecting handle generally similar to handle 10 but adapted for repeated use with different packages. As shown in FIG. 4, both loop handles 16' and 17 of shopping bag 29 are removably placed in the longitudinal groove of the hand protecting handle. Preferably, the

two ends of the side walls of the handle are formed with.

retaining lugs 21, 21 which are designed to prevent the cords from slipping out of the groove 15. The side walls and retaining lugs, which form a part thereof, *being flexible, the cords are forced into the groove by pushing them throughthe passage between the retaining lugs, whereupon the lugs spring back into their locking position.

FIG. 6 shows a modified form of retaining lugs 18, 19 at the lateral ends of longitudinal groove 15.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate an injection mold for making the handles of the present invention. Two like mold parts 22 are provided with a molding material inlet 23 leading to the molding cavity 24 having the desired shape of the handle, with ribs 25 in the cavity producing the transverse slots in the side walls of the handle body. The molding core 26 cooperates with the cavities in the mold parts to produce the injection molded handle.

A wood pulp or plastic handle of the type hereinabove described is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. It may either be permanently attached to a loop handle or it may be carried around in a pocket or purse for ready use with a loop handle which can easily he slipped into the longi tudinal groove of the hand protecting handle. Due to its pliable underside and the flexibility imparted to itby the transverse slots in the handle side Walls, the handle will readily and fully conform to the hand and will make the carrying of a package very convenient.

It is also possible to attach the hand protecting handle of the present invention to loop handles of conventional package sealing and carrying devices. Such devices, as is known, may be cut from a continuous tape of paper, for instance, such tape having a plurality of sealing sections provided with loop handles. The handle according o to the present invention may be permanently attached to each loop handle by embedding it centrally in its lower portion or the loop handle may merely be placed in the longitudinal groove of the handle, as will be obvious from the above description of other embodiments of the invention.

While I have fully described and illustrated certain embodiments of my invention, it will be readily understood that changes and modifications may occur to the skilled in the art, particularly after they benefit from the present teaching, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand protecting handle adapted to hold and surround at least one loop handle'for carrying an article, the

handprotecting handle consisting of an elongated body having a lower portion and two side walls extending therefrom, at least the lower portion being of pliable material and the side walls defining a longitudinal groove providing a seat for said loop handle, said side walls having a plurality of pairs of transverse slots extending from the upper edge of the side walls downwardly to the lower portion, the slots cutting through the side walls and having rounded ends at the lower portion, each pair of slots defining a plane transverse to said body and making the lower pliable portion of the body resiliently flexible in planes substantially perpendicular to said transverse planes whereby the lower portion is readily conformable to the shape of the hand in said perpendicular planes.

2. The hand protecting handle according to claim 1, wherein one of a pair of cooperating loop handles for carrying an article is embedded in the lower portion of the hand protecting handle and thus is permanently attached thereto, while the other one of said pair of coopcrating loop handles is removably attached thereto.

3. The hand protecting handle according to claim 1, wherein a pair of cooperating loop handles for carrying an article is removably attached to the hand protecting handle.

4. The hand protecting handle of claim 1, wherein the slot ends are circular.

5. The hand protecting handle of claim 1, also comprising pairs of inwardly bent retaining lugs at each end of the longitudinal groove.

6. The hand protecting handle according to claim 1, wherein at least the lower portion of the elongated body consists of plastic material.

7. The hand protecting handle according to claim 1, wherein at least the lower portion of the elongated body consists of cellulose pulp material.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A HAND PROTECTING HANDLE ADAPTED TO HOLD AND SUR ROUND AT LEAST ONE LOOP HANDLE FOR CARRYING AN ARTICLE, THE HAND PROTECTING HANDLE CONSISTING OF AN ELONGATED BODY HAVING A LOWER PORTION AND TWO SIDE WALLS EXTENDING THEREFROM, AT LEAST THE LOWER PORTION BEING OR PLIABLE MATERIAL AND THE SIDE WALLS DEFINING A LONGITUDINAL GROOVE PROVIDING A SEAT FOR SAID LOOP HANDLE, SAID SIDE WALLS HAVING A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF TRANSVERSE SLOTS EXTENDING FROM THE UPPER EDGE OF THE SIDE WALLS DOWNWARDLY TO THE LOWER PORTION, THE SLOTS CUTTING THROUGH THE SIDE WALLS AND HAVING ROUNDED ENDS AT THE LOWER PORTION, EACH PAIR OF SLOTS DEFINING A PLANE TRANSVERSE TO SAID BODY AND MAKING THE LOWER PLIABLE PORTION OF THE BODY RESILIENTLY FLEXIBLE IN PLANES SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID TRANSVERSE PLANES WHEREBY THE LOWER PORTION IS READILY CONFORMABLE TO THE SHAPE OF THE HAND IN SAID PERPENDICULAR PLANES. 